To be blunt, the $820 Chinon Bellami HD-1 seems a bit overpriced for the size of its sensor. But if you’re looking for pistol grip throwback styling and interchangeable lenses in an ultraportable video camera, well, you're not going to find anything as gorgeous as the HD-1.
Mind you, this fully digital, 1080p camcorder doesn’t just resemble a Super-8 camera. It’s actually built around the same specifications, with a ⅓-inch-type sensor that’s about the same size as a frame of 8mm film.
That's wicked small, which in theory translates to not-so-great image quality. Then again, 8mm film isn’t exactly the paragon of film quality, so score one for authenticity. And as coincidence would have it, that sensor is also about the same size as the image sensor found in the iPhone 5s. The iPhone shoots decent video, so you may not want to write the HD-1 off on sensor size alone.
This Chinon camcorder’s optics should be a significant step up from cellphone land, thanks to an F1.2 kit lens with a 4mm focal length; there’s no information on the Chinon site about the crop factor/focal-length multiplier for the system. But you can use any D-mount lenses you’ve had laying around natively, and Chinon is also selling adapters for C-mount lenses, CS-mount lenses, and M42-mount lenses that cost $20 to $50 apiece. A three-pack of all of them goes for around $68.
The camcorder itself shoots 1080p or 720p video at 30fps, 15fps, or 10fps, captured as MOV files to a user-supplied SD/SDHC/SDXC slot. Its whistles and bells also look better than the ones on your average celly too, with an aperture-priority mode, ISO settings that reach up to 12,800 (albeit with that tiny sensor), and 3.5mm mic-in and headphone-out jacks. It runs on a pair of AA batteries.
Unfortunately, it’s currently only available in Japan. Chinon, you crazy diamond.
